Memories of Gigi’s Farm
There must have been some animals
two or three work horses with
thick tails swatting barnyard flies
some white or brown chickens,
maybe a cat sunning in a porch
a guard dog leaning against the steps
but I don’t recall
the clucking of hens and scratching
of long wrinkled claws on hay
nor the neighing behind broken fence
horse hoofs sunk in garden plot
I do remember
in child wonder
blue Christmas ornaments
small round balls
shiny glass, my reflection
of Gigi’s farm
mirrored back to me
A room tucked somewhere
a wooden armoire
of memories
curved legs
round wooden handles
three drawers
two large doors
swinging out
My parents allowing
me to sleep outside
in white screened-in porch
the time they woke me up
all of us wearing flannel pajamas
sitting with bare feet in hot car
eating our fill of soft ice cream
the vanilla flavour dripping
dripping down
my little fingers
~ Debbie Okun Hill
Debbie Okun Hill began her writing career on the prairies and currently gardens words full-time in southwestern Ontario. To date, over 125 of her poems have been published in over 50 publications/websites including Quills Canadian Poetry Magazine, Ascent Aspirations, and Inscribed. This spring her poem “Letters of J-i-l-t†was short listed for Freefall’s 2008 Prose and Poetry Contest and this fall two of her poems will appear in Edmonton’s Other Voices. Beret Days Press launched her first chapbook Swaddled in Comet Dust in 2008.
Leave a Reply